If you share your home with a West Highland White Terrier, the dental essentials are these: Westies are a small breed, which places them on the fast track for plaque, tartar, and gum disease from an early age — and Westie puppies specifically can be affected by a documented jaw-bone condition called craniomandibular osteopathy that every owner of this breed should be able to recognize. Daily home care plus an observant eye during puppyhood covers both bases.
After 25-plus years of making dental chews in the USA here at Ark Naturals, we've learned that white terriers with big personalities do best with routines that feel like games. Let's get into the specifics.
Understanding the Westie jaw
A Westie packs a lot of head into 15 to 20 pounds: a broad skull, a blunt but proportioned muzzle, and a full set of 42 adult teeth that must share real estate designed at five-sixths scale. The breed isn't extreme — nothing like the compressed face of a Pekingese — so tooth alignment is usually respectable. But compared with a big dog, the gaps between a Westie's teeth are narrower, the protective bone around each root is thinner, and every milligram of plaque covers proportionally more of each tooth's surface.
Those harder-working little teeth also serve a genuine earthdog. Westies were bred to follow rats and foxes into rocky dens in the West Highlands of Scotland, and the modern dog keeps the grip strength, the digging drive, and the willingness to chew whatever the day provides. Gravel, root balls, and deck furniture all leave dental fingerprints over a lifetime.
There's one more chapter unique to this corner of the terrier world, and it involves the jawbone itself rather than the teeth.
What is craniomandibular osteopathy, and why do Westie owners hear about it?
Craniomandibular osteopathy — CMO, sometimes nicknamed "Westie jaw" or "lion jaw" — is a non-cancerous condition in which extra bone forms along a growing puppy's lower jaw and skull. It's documented most often in West Highland White Terriers and their close cousins (Scotties and Cairns), typically appearing between roughly three and eight months of age. An affected puppy may show swelling along the jaw, pain when opening the mouth, drooling, reluctance to eat hard food, or an on-and-off fever.
Here's the reassuring part: CMO is generally self-limiting. The abnormal bone growth usually stops when the puppy stops growing, around a year old, and often regresses afterward. Management is about keeping the puppy comfortable and fed in the meantime — which is squarely your veterinarian's territory. If your Westie puppy ever seems reluctant to open wide, cries when chewing, or develops facial swelling, get to your vet promptly rather than waiting it out. Responsible breeders now screen for the gene associated with CMO, so it's also a fair question to ask before you bring a puppy home.
To be clear about our lane: no chew, food, or supplement treats CMO. This is purely need-to-know owner education for a breed where it's documented.
The everyday risks: small dog, standard playbook
Setting CMO aside, the Westie's dental future is written mostly by size class:
- Periodontal disease, early and often. The American Veterinary Dental College calls periodontal disease the most common clinical condition in adult dogs, and small breeds develop it youngest. Untreated, it progresses from red gums to bone loss and loose teeth — largely invisibly, beneath the gumline.
- Retained puppy teeth. Small terriers not infrequently keep a baby canine after the adult version erupts, creating a tight plaque trap. Your vet should check the bite around six months.
- Chipped and worn teeth from that enthusiastic earthdog lifestyle — digging grit wears enamel, and hard chews can crack even small-dog teeth.
- Beard-adjacent gum trouble. Like other furnished breeds, a Westie's facial hair holds moisture and crumbs against the lower lip line. A quick daily wipe helps the gums downstream.
Building the daily habit (and making a terrier think it was their idea)
Brushing is the anchor. For a Westie, a finger brush or small-headed soft toothbrush with an enzymatic dog toothpaste is the right toolkit — human toothpaste is off the table, since dogs swallow what you put in their mouths. Slide under the lip with the mouth closed, angle toward the gumline, and prioritize the upper back teeth on the cheek side. Thirty focused seconds daily outperforms occasional marathons. With terriers, we recommend brushing at the same time and place every day; ritual is persuasive where force is not.
Chews handle the enrichment side of the equation while adding mechanical cleaning:
- For a 15- to 20-pound Westie, choose a chew sized for small dogs — our full range is organized by weight class in the shop-all dogs collection, including our Soft Brushless line for gentler mouths. Skip chews rated for dogs over 20 pounds unless your particular Westie actually weighs in above that mark.
- When you're ready to step up from starter maintenance, our Soft Shield Protection+ soft chews bring our Asta-Shield formula — built around astaxanthin, a well-studied antioxidant carotenoid (research overview) — in a texture that's kind to small teeth. The DENTA-METER on every package shows exactly where each product sits on the protection scale.
- Healthy puppies can begin dental chews at 12 weeks. For a Westie pup, though, we'd add a breed-specific asterisk: because CMO shows up in this exact age window, have your veterinarian confirm the jaw is developing normally before introducing anything chewy, and pause chews immediately if mouth pain ever appears.
Everything we make is free of artificial flavors and colors — relevant for a breed where many owners are already managing sensitive skin and watching ingredient labels closely.
When to pick up the phone
The AVMA recommends an oral exam at least annually, with professional cleanings as your veterinarian advises. Call sooner if your Westie shows:
- Jaw swelling, fever, or pain opening the mouth in a puppy — same-week vet visit, no exceptions
- Persistent bad breath (small breeds' "normal doggy breath" excuse expires fast)
- Bleeding gums, brown crust at the gumline, or a loose adult tooth
- Dropping food, chewing on one side, or newly picky eating
- Face-rubbing, pawing at the muzzle, or flinching when the beard is handled
Small dogs often need their first professional cleaning years before large dogs do. Rather than guessing, let your veterinary team set the schedule off what they find at each checkup.
Westie dental questions we hear most
Is bad breath normal for a Westie?
Mild dog breath, sure — persistent foul breath, no. In a small breed it's most often the first noticeable sign of periodontal bacteria at work. Daily plaque control usually improves it within weeks; breath that stays bad despite good home care warrants a veterinary oral exam.
Should I worry about CMO if my Westie is already two years old?
CMO is a growth-phase condition of puppies, so an adult dog who never showed signs is past the window. If you're buying a puppy, ask the breeder about CMO genetic screening; if you're raising one now, just know the signs and keep your vet in the loop through the first year.
What's the best first dental product for a Westie puppy?
Start with your finger and dog toothpaste — the tool matters less than the habit. Around 12 weeks, once your vet gives the all-clear on jaw development, a small-breed starter chew can join in. Save the advanced-protection products for adulthood; the DENTA-METER makes the progression easy to follow.
My Westie hates the toothbrush. Am I doomed?
Not remotely — you're just in negotiation with a terrier. Shrink the ask (one tooth, then done), raise the pay (a favorite reward immediately after), and stay boringly consistent. Meanwhile, daily dental chews keep mechanical cleaning happening. Your veterinary team can also demonstrate low-stress restraint tricks that make a real difference.
How early can gum disease actually start in a small breed?
Gingivitis can be visible by age one or two, and studies of small-breed dogs show measurable periodontal changes remarkably young. That's why we push Westie owners to treat dental care like housetraining — a foundational puppy skill, not something to add later.